Two charged with cruelty after reported dog beatings

The Ottawa Humane Society says it has charged two people in separate cases of alleged animal cruelty after witnesses reported seeing them beat their dogs.

In the first case, witnesses told OHS agents they saw a woman slapping her cowering Jack Russell at a dog park on Aug. 5. According to the witnesses, the terrier was whimpering on the ground when it was repeatedly hit two different times that day, the society said. A woman has been charged with two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to a dog.

In the second case, charges were laid after a man reportedly choked, kicked and punched a dog on July 17 and again on July 18. After a picture of the suspect was posted on Crime Stoppers and the OHS Facebook account, witnesses came forward to identify the man, the society said.